Hello Everyone, I have spent my entire day reading on the bullfrogs. I started out with searching for ideas on how to turn a inground swimming pool into a pond and I got sidetracked. We have a pool we haven't used for years and it always has water in it. We have always had a frog in there from time to time, but this year we have seven bullfrogs. And, I think tey've moved in for good. Well, maybe we only have six now, I forgot about the poor soul that my cat and dog teamed up on last weekend. That created a project for my husband and I to make a surface to go inside of the pool with tiles for the frogs to bask in the sun on, instead of get out of the pool (which they still do). Up, until reading all the info on these forums about the bullfrogs, I loved them. Now I'm just not sure. My friends and family think I'm crazy. I haven't seen them eat any birds or other frogs, I do know that I'm always dishing out toads that fall in at night. I did at one time have thousands of tadpoles and then one day they were all gone. I guess the bullfrogs ate them. :( Anyway, reading this has been a hoot. I would attach a picture of two of them, but now sure how to di it!

Could be a fungus like Vladimir said, could also be an insect egg or just dirt on a bit of fluff. However, I'm more concerned with how dusty the leaves are. I may just be dust or it could be the beginnings of a spider mite infestation. It's a good idea to wash off the leaves from time to time, like maybe every 4-6 weeks. Take them outside and hose them off, or if that's not possible, put them in the shower and shower them off with cool water. Then let them drain well and put them back where they were. It helps prevent spider mites as they're attracted to dusty plants. And your plants love the rinsing off!

Hi everyone! Don't know what happened to my last version of this posting. I had it all written turned around and it was gone :(. Well my brugs are here at home. The very sweet woman who gave this to me and her equally nice husband who dug up and put into my truck each one of these trees made me feel warm and welcomed. Kristi, the woman who gave this to me even brought out toys for my kids so they wouldn't get bored. Not hand me downs - which are prefectly good in my book too - but new, in the box toys she keeps around for just this kind of event. When greeting with this kind of generosity, a simple thanks does not seem enough but she didn't want anything in return. What I brought home were trees taller than me, taller than the inside of my greenhouse. Well they've been well trimmed now and I have cuttings ready to go. Here's what I have to share: Rosamond Versi Peach - limited amount Mayan Magic Maya Arlene's pink Beauty Golden Lady - nice double - but be warned it has a virus. The virus does not spread easily but you have to clean your pruners before you go near another brug. It's lived side by side with the other brugs with no ill effects and grows nicely anyways. I just want you to be warned. Unnamed seedlings of her own crosses. I didn't get butterfly or the big Creamsickle :(. Someone else beat me to it. I can't really complain too loud because the person who got it was a friend who has given me sooooo many plants. Jaye - what kind of truck did you get? DH loves trucks. We've had quite a few. For anyone who wants one post it here or email me with which ones you want. Canna - sorry to hear about your kitty! I had that happen to one once. She survived fine but what a fright! I shudder to think of the pain. MaryS - Can I move in with you??????? That lake looks so peaceful. MaryB - Thanks! Dawn - Did you get my email? Please tell me that you've forgiven my rash comment :( Will more brug cuttings help?????? Hmmm just what I needed - Another plant to collect! Anyone ever had bursitis - just got it in the shoulder. I feel like an invalid. What did you do to help it. My mom said she heard something about Vitamin B. Does this sound familiar? Ellen

I have to chime in about the cat comment from Jay in Chicago......now I am mad. I am sick and tired of hearing these baseless remarks about how we have lost 2/3 of our native birds and suggesting it is the result of free roaming cats, community cats, cats on the street ...... THEY ARE THERE BECAUSE OF US! Point number one. Point number two——anyone who is environmentally aware KNOWS that WE are changing the climate of this planet. The temperatures are so high the ice caps are melting, the fires, the hurricanes, tornadoes and flooding are all at epic proportions. So the reasons for bird habitat loss are numerous—-habitat loss due to climate change. Habitat loss because we keep growing as a population without regard for what the planet can support, so then we need bigger houses , more houses, more malls more shopping centers, more grocery stores .......get my point? Every time we expand out AND CUT DOWN NATURAL HABITAT, birds and other animals by the way, lose their homes. Birds also lose their live lives to many other things, car collisions, crashing into windows on homes and most especially high rise buildings, collisions with airplanes, Wind turbines, lead and pesticides poisoning, predation by many other predators—-dogs, coyotes, wolves, foxes, raccoons other birds such as eagles, osprey, falcons, hawks, merlins, kestrels, buteos, occipiters, circinaes. There’s more, snakes, some PLANTS, even some fish believe it or not——sharks, tigerfish, and more, seals and even some insects.....yes the preying mantis has a taste for humming birds. I'm sure that’s not a comprehensive list, but the best I can do today. Back to habitat loss, all that logging and cutting down of the natural forests..... do you think that helps birds flourish? NoT only are they losing their homes in and around urban areas where many people feed them and enjoy their antics and beauty, they are more importantly losing their winter nesting grounds for birds that fly south to Central and South America especially. Logging companies, farming and even cattle raisers are cutting and burning the Amazon Rainforest at unprecedented rates. Loss of habitat again!!! These activities are also getting so perilously close to the Indigent peoples who have survived in the forest with no contact from the outside world for hundreds of years until recently...... what will happen to them? They don’t have the antibodies that we do...... they could die from being forced out of their forest homes and into an urban area!!! Jay, apparently this doesn’t worry you...... shame on you for that! Now, back to community cats......they are called that because “we” humans have thrown them out whenever it’s too inconvenient to keep them.....too expensive, too old or sick, never spayed or neutered them (which should always be done) so now mama cat is pregnant. Oh, don’t want kittens? Just let her out......she can fend for herself, right? Wrong. Domesticated cats are not meant to live outside. They have been cared for and fed and sheltered and that’s all they know. So when “we” throw them out, let them out, lose them and not bother to look for them shame on us! I need to say here I am not FOR outdoor cats, but when they are already there we must deal with them humanely. Believe me, I live in Wisconsin, I know what the cold, lack of food, shelter and water do to cats. It sickens them, starves them and kills them slowly and this is not humane. The answer to the roaming cat problem is quite simply Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR). I have been doing this for over 15 years now. When you neuter the cats and return them to live outside the only life they know, you stop the reproduction cycle. You care for them if they stay in your yard and provide the best shelter you can. Please don’t suggest just killing them, as someone noted above, when you kill the chippies, other chippies just fill in the void because the resources are still there. Same is true for cats......it’s a well-known scientific fact, called the vacuum effect. I am aware I have completely derailed the original poster’s topic and I am sorry, but I just can’t let ignorance go without comment. For further information on TNR, see Best Friends Animal Society, Alley Cat Allies, ASPCA, HSUS, and many many many other animal organizations including Chicago’s own Tree House. For an excellent blog, lookup VoxFelina by Peter Wolf. debra ps. My TNR cats have caught 20-30x more mice than birds. But since they are so well fed they don’t need to hunt anything, period!